Mac Taylor's Ransom
by miss37
Summary: Mac is taken hostage and his captors plan to demand ransom for his return. However, they have one weak link in their chain of command. If Mac can get him to help him, he might escape. Can he escape? Or will he only get into more trouble and danger?
1. Chapter 1

Mac Taylor was about to go to bed when someone knocked on his door. He scowled as he wondered who would be here this time of night. He secretly hoped it was not Don Flack telling him something about a case. He walked into the living room and opened the door. There was a woman at the door dressed in a silky layered…gown? Mac was not sure if it was a gown or a dress. "Can I help you?" he asked.

"Question is: Can I help you, Darling?" the woman asked.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Katherine."

Mac was confused as to the purpose of this visit. "You must have the wrong apartment," he said.

"Oh, no. I'm sure I'm at the right place. You're Mac Taylor, aren't you?"

Mac nodded. "Yes, but…"

The woman walked in with her flowing dress shuffling as she went by Mac. "Hey, get out of here," he said. "You are not invited in here."

Mac closed the door and went over to the woman to escort her out. "Get out of here," he demanded, getting just a little angry. "You're trespassing."

The woman turned to him and walked up to him. She threw a sheer silk scarf around his neck in a seductive way. "Did you hear me?" Mac asked.

"Oh come now," the woman said. "Surely you could use a little company."

Mac started to say something but suddenly, the woman kneed him in the groin. The shock of that pain took Mac's breath away and almost took him to his knees. Then the woman punched him in the nose. Mac found himself lying flat of his back in the floor. He felt like his whole body was on fire with pain. He was trying to get his bearings back but then the woman was leaning over him and he felt a pinprick in his neck. "Don't worry, Darling, I'll take good care of you," Katherine said.

Mac stared at her and then everything went black. The woman stood up and went to the door. She opened it and let her partner in. "Now that wasn't so hard, was it?" she asked. "After all, he's a man."

"Right," the man said. "Now how do we get him out of here?"

"I have that planned out too."

Just then, someone knocked on the door and Katherine glided over to the door. She looked through the peephole and found that it was not whom she expected. She gestured to her partner, Bryan to be quiet. She knew that guy outside the door. It was that Don Flack. She thought about trying to take him too but it would not be easy and not at this time.

"Hey, Mac, open up!" Don called. He looked at his watch thinking Mac was probably already in bed, but he thought he might be out too since this was his night off. He knocked again but when he got no answer, he decided Mac must not be there and went back to the elevator. He supposed whatever he had to tell Mac would have to wait till the next day.

Katherine went back over to Mac's unconscious body and got her phone to call for her other partner. She looked at Bryan. "Stop worrying," she said. "Everything will work out fine."

"But someone could see us," Bryan replied. "That's all we need is for someone to see us taking him out of here. The whole N.Y.P.D. would be after us, and then all this would be for nothing."

"You think a million dollars is for nothing? Once we have that, you'll be enjoying yourself in Tahiti, Thailand or wherever you want to go."

Bryan rolled his eyes as he wondered how he let her talk him into this. He supposed his greed got the best of him, but he was starting to have second thoughts. He looked at Mac. He had not done anything illegal yet and he could walk away from this and never return. He wondered what Katherine would say if he told her he was getting out. Maybe he would not tell her because he figured she would not take that too lightly and might even kill him to make sure he did not mess up her plans. He thought it was a ridiculous plan because there was no way she would be able to keep them from finding her and then she would be in trouble for kidnapping a police officer…and not only a police officer, but the head of the crime lab. She had said she wanted to "aim high" to get the biggest benefit. Bryan knew how valuable Mac was to that department, and he was also dangerous. He knew she would have a hard time keeping Mac Taylor under control when he came to and realized what was going on. He would be angry…to say the least.

Soon, someone else came to the apartment door and Katherine assumed it was her other helper. She looked through the peephole and it was Julie, her other partner. Katherine opened the door and Julie came in, rolling the laundry cart. "It's about time," Katherine said as she looked down the hallway. She closed the door and got over to Mac. "Let's get him in there."

They tied Mac's hands and feet and taped his mouth and then got him into the laundry cart. "Make sure he doesn't smother," Katherine said. "We don't want him dead…yet."

Bryan could not help but notice that she said 'yet'. He did not want anything to do with killing a cop. He planned to walk away when he got away from Katherine.

They covered Mac with a sheet and got ready to leave the apartment. "You go first," Katherine said to Julie. "Just act like what you normally do."

Julie nodded and headed out the door. She went down to the elevator and pushed the cart in. She went down to the laundry room where there was a door that led outside. There was no one else in the laundry room this time of night so she went on over to the door and pushed the cart outside. There was a black van waiting out there and she just pushed the cart up inside it. She got in and closed the doors and then uncovered Mac's face so that he would not be smothering. She could see that he was already sweating but he was breathing so she figured he was okay.

Soon, Katherine arrived at the van and got in. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's sweating but he's okay," Julie replied.

"Good." Katherine looked at her. "I don't think Bryan is going to work out for this. He's too nervous."

"I'm nervous too."

"Not like he is. People who are that nervous spill their guts."

"I don't think Bryan will. Just give me some time with him."

Katherine looked at Julie. "Don't tell me you have the hots for that coward," she said.

"He's not a coward," Julie said. "We couldn't have done this without him."

Katherine laughed. "Are you kidding? He didn't do anything."

"He helped us get him into the cart, and he'll help us get him where we want him. After all, he's heavy."

"Oh, I suppose you're right, but once this is over, I never want to see either of you again. I intend to leave this country and go as far as I can and disappear."

"Maybe I will just disappear with Bryan."

"Your privilege." Katherine thought a moment. "Maybe we should ask for two million."

"We'll be lucky to get one."

"Oh I don't know. They're going to be desperate to get him back unharmed."

Bryan soon arrived at the van and got in. They had come out separately so no one would see them leaving together. Katherine pulled out of the alley and they were away with their prize. She was not going to live in poverty anymore. She was tired of it and she was going to have money to live luxuriously for the rest of her life. She did not care what Julie did, she would move to a country where her money meant something.

As Mac woke up, he realized his knees were almost in his face. He looked around him and all he could see were sheets and other bed linens, and he thought he was in a moving vehicle. He was also tied and his mouth was taped. He tried to move but it was not possible to move much. He realized he was in a laundry cart.

"He's waking up," Julie said. "What should I do?"

"He can't get away," Katherine replied.

Julie looked into the laundry cart at Mac who was trying to get in a more comfortable position. "Can't I take the tape off his mouth?" she asked.

Katherine looked in the rearview mirror. "You can't feel sorry for our hostage," she said.

"But he can't breathe good in there."

"Fine, take it off."

Julie reached into the cart and pulled the tape off Mac's mouth. "OW!" he yelled and then glared at her. "Where am I?"

"You're in a van," Julie said.

"Don't talk to him!" Katherine said.

Julie leaned back in her seat and folded her arms. Mac was not satisfied with silence. "Let me out of here!" he demanded and kicked the side of the laundry cart.

"Shut up!" Katherine yelled. "Or we will give you another shot!"

Mac pulled at the tape holding his hands but it was impossible to break. He was hot lying in the laundry cart and he felt sweaty. He wondered where they were taking him. What did they want? He had no idea. He remembered the woman coming into his apartment but he had never seen her before. "Who are you?" he asked. "And what do you want with me?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Katherine replied. "If you keep talking, we will tape your mouth again."

Mac frowned at that threat. He could do nothing to get away so he just lay there to see where they were going. He thought it was an hour before they stopped. His back was hurting now and his feet were asleep from being in that position so long. He thought they were inside a building and he thought he smelled something like wood and even varnish. His captors got up and then they rolled him out of the van still in the laundry cart. He was beginning to wonder if they were going to keep him in there, but they took him up to a room.

Katherine looked into the cart at him. "Well, this is going to be your home for a while," she said. "I hope you like it."

Mac waited to see what would happen. Bryan came over to the cart and pulled Mac out. Mac was angry and he jerked and turned the cart over and then he and Bryan fell on the floor. "Hey!" Bryan exclaimed. "What did you do that for?"

Mac rolled over but he could not get up because his feet were still taped together. "Let me go!" he demanded. "You won't get away with holding me here!"

"I think we will," Katherine said. She leaned down over Mac and grabbed his throat digging her nails into his skin. "Now, you either cooperate or we will let you lie here drugged the whole time!"

Mac was gagging as she was choking him, but she let go. They got him up and put him in what looked like a dentist's chair. Mac did not like the looks of that but they strapped him in and untied his hands and feet. Then they strapped them down to the chair. "What do you think you're going to do to me?" Mac asked.

"Don't worry, we want them to pay top price for you," Katherine said.

Mac was confused now. "What do you mean?"

Katherine leaned the chair back and then strapped Mac's head to the headrest. "Hey!" Mac yelled. "Don't leave me like this!"

"I have to make sure you're not damaged," Katherine said.

Mac did not like being unable to move. "Let me out of this!" he exclaimed.

"Just relax. No one is going to hurt you as long as you don't attempt to get away and you can't in this position. Besides, people go to sleep in the dentist's chair all the time. You should be quite comfortable."

Mac could not believe she turned to leave the room. "NO!" he yelled. "Don't leave me like this! Please!"

Katherine just went on out the door. Mac was trying not to panic. This reminded him of when Andy Bedford had him sitting in that chair and he had to be still. He thought a person's muscles would cramp more then than any other time because they could not move. But more than that, it reminded him of that brief encounter he had while he was in the Marines when someone tied him in a room and left him in the dark. He had learned that he was claustrophobic then. He had almost panicked in that room and had tried not to all night. He had not been able to move all night and they had gagged him so he could not yell. The Sergeant had found out about it the next day and had released him. He had been angry to say the least. Mac had not known who did it and the Sergeant thought he was just protecting the other soldier, and no one else said anything either so they had all had to do extra laps.

Mac stared at the ceiling trying not to think of the fact that he could not move but he could not. "Hey!" he yelled. "Let me out of here!"

Bryan could hear Mac yelling. He walked over to Julie. "Does he have to be restrained like that?" he asked.

"Katherine doesn't want him to escape or to hurt himself trying," Julie replied.

"Do we have to go along with everything she wants?"

"It's not going to hurt him, and when we have the money, we can go away together."

Bryan looked at her. "It looks like there would be an easier way than this," he said. "He's a cop…and more than that. He's the head of the crime lab."

"He'll bring more money," Julie said.

"If we get caught, we're going to prison for a very long time."

"Don't worry about that. We won't get caught."

"I don't like the idea of tying him down like that. I mean, it just seems cruel."

They heard Mac yell again, and beg for them to at least let his head loose. Bryan looked at Julie. "This is cruelty," he said.

"Just don't listen to him," Julie replied. "You can't have sympathy for your hostage."

"Is that what Katherine told you?"

"Yes, and you better not let her see you having sympathy for him or she will 'eliminate' you. That's what she told me."

Bryan frowned. "Fine, but I don't have to listen to him," he said. He turned and went out the door to sit outside. They were out in the middle of nowhere anyway. He sat down on a rock down behind the cabin they were in and looked out across the lake that was there behind the place. He did not need a million dollars. He wanted to just get out of this. He might just walk away when he got the chance. He had never been involved in anything like this and he did not want the rest of his life to be this way.

Katherine had changed into some jeans and a sweater. "Where is Bryan?" she asked.

"He went out to get some air," Julie answered. "He doesn't like to hear that guy in there yelling."

"He's too soft."

"Well, I guess this will be the only job he's in on."

"It sure will."

Julie did not like the idea of Katherine killing Bryan but she knew she would if he even gave the slightest indication that he was walking or that he would rat on them. She hoped she could keep him from doing that and just get him to relax. She wanted to run away with him and never have to work again.

Mac did not know how long it would be before his team would realize that he was missing. He had been going home early that night because he had not been feeling well. He had hoped he was not catching that stomach virus that had spread all over the place. He could not imagine getting sick like that here and tied down like he was. He supposed he would drown in his own vomit. He swallowed hard thinking that. Surely they would not want that, after all the woman had said she did not want him damaged. He just hoped he could get out of this because he had the feeling that they did not intend for him to get away alive. After all, he had seen all three of them.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, Mac woke up hoping that he had been having a nightmare but he was not, and he felt even worse. "Somebody, help me!" he called.

Mac heard the door open and Bryan walked in. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"I'm sick," Mac said. "Please, let me up. I think I'm going to throw up!"

Bryan looked toward the door but then he unbuckled the strap that was around Mac's head. He looked at Mac. "You're not going to try and get away, are you?" he asked. "If you do, they'll kill me."

Mac looked at him. "Why don't you help me get out of here?" he asked. He closed his eyes against the nausea that was overtaking him. He did not think he could escape right now if he wanted to. "Please, I need to go to the bathroom." Mac had heard how bad that virus was, and if he had that, he would not be going anywhere because Don Flack had it and he had told him that he had not been able to get off the bed for two days and then he was barely able.

Bryan unbuckled Mac's hands and feet and then helped him off the chair. Mac thought he would pass out. He had never felt so bad in his entire life. "Oh, God," he moaned.

"You're really sick, aren't you?" Bryan asked.

Mac did not want to answer that. He thought he was not even able to answer it. "Help me."

Bryan helped him to the bathroom. "You don't have to worry about Katherine right now," he said. "She's not here until later. She will take a picture of you to send to them after they realize you're gone."

Mac did not care about that right now. He got into the bathroom and Bryan closed the door. He knew Julie was still in there and there was no way he could get Mac Taylor from this place without her knowing it. He did not know what he wanted to do but he had to go to work this afternoon and he was not sure he would come back. He thought he might just take up stakes and leave to another state. He could hear Mac in the bathroom. It sounded like he was pretty sick.

Soon, Mac opened the door. He looked so pale, Bryan thought he would collapse. Mac stared at him. "I'm sick," he said feeling like he would faint or something.

"Come on," Bryan said. He helped Mac over to the cot that was there in the room and put him on it. "Just lie here and don't make her put you back in that chair."

Mac nodded. He had to agree. He felt better now that he was lying down but he felt sick anyway. He knew what everyone had been talking about now. He would never be inconsiderate toward anyone when they called in sick again. He had even thought Don was exaggerating but he knew better now. He had not been exaggerating at all. Why did this have to happen today? That virus was very contagious and now he was in even worse trouble.

The next thing Mac knew, Katherine was standing over him. "So, you're sick, huh?" she asked.

Mac stared at her a moment. He felt like his body weighed a ton. He thought if they all caught this, they would not be able to keep him there. "Well, I guess we don't have to worry about you running away right now," Katherine gloated. "And don't worry, I've already had that."

Mac frowned. He felt too bad to glare. He supposed he might lie here and just dehydrate and die if they would not even help him. He felt like he could not move at all. Katherine took a picture of him lying on the bed. "That should prove to them that we have you," she said.

"Why are you doing this?" Mac asked.

"Because I want to stop living in poverty."

"You could find another way."

"Oh, don't give me that speech about getting a degree. All that gives you is a mounting debt and then no job to pay it back. This way is much easier."

Mac closed his eyes. He did not feel like debating. He wished he could have gotten sick at work and then maybe he would not have went to the door when this lunatic knocked…

Adam Ross walked into the lab that morning on his way to the computer lab and he could not help but notice that Mac was not in his office. He wondered where he was this morning. Mac was usually there before him but then again, he was dating Christine now and Adam had heard that Mac had proposed to her. Mac had neither confirmed nor denied that but they all supposed they would have to wait until he was ready to say he did or not.

Adam passed by Sheldon Hawks's office and knocked on the glass as Sheldon was yawning. He had been on the night shift again. "Where's Mac?" Adam asked.

"I don't know," Sheldon replied. "I haven't seen him."

"He's usually here before me."

"Maybe he's stuck in traffic or something." Sheldon stood up. "I have to get going and get some rest."

"Well, good night…or morning…"

"Yeah, you too."

Sheldon left and the next to come in was Danny Messer. He noticed Mac was not in his office too but he went on to his office and put his jacket in there. One could always need a jacket at night in New York even in the summer. He sat down at his desk to work on paperwork since they had not had any calls this morning…yet. He knew they could get something soon. People were going in to work and getting their day started. He was just glad no one found a body at two in the morning. He hated getting out of bed and going to a crime scene that early in the morning. Lindsay would be there later. She was dropping Lucy off at daycare. Danny could hardly believe she would be going to preschool this fall.

Jo Danville arrived at the office an hour later. She waved to Danny and Lindsay as she passed by to her office. She could not help but notice that Mac was not in his office either. She put her purse and everything in her office and then went to Danny and Lindsay in the lab. "Where's Mac this morning?" Jo asked. "Did he go to a crime scene all alone?"

"We haven't heard anything and haven't seen him," Danny replied. "Maybe he's running late."

"Mac? That would be unusual."

"Yeah, but he's involved now."

"Oh, Danny."

Jo left the lab and went back to her office. She scowled as she looked toward Mac's office. She thought he should at least call and say he was late but she would just discuss that with him when he got there. As the day wore on, everybody started to get concerned that Mac had not shown up or called. They had tried to call him and he did not answer. "Hey, maybe they eloped," Danny suggested.

"Danny, you know better than that," Lindsay scolded.

"No I don't. Maybe he wants something private."

"I don't think that's it," Jo said. "Does anyone know Christine's number?"

"No, but I'm sure we can find it."

"Do that and find out if she knows where he is."

Danny went into the computer lab and had Adam find Christine's number. He dialed the number and waited…

"Hello," Christine answered.

"Christine, this is Danny Messer. How ya doin?"

"Doing okay." Christine was puzzled about this call. "Is something wrong?"

"No. We were just wondering if you knew where Mac is. He hasn't shown up at work today."

Christine frowned. "He hasn't?"

"No. We thought maybe he was taking a day with you but he didn't call or anything."

"I haven't seen Mac today. He called me last night and said he was going home to get some rest. He was very tired last night and had not been feeling well yesterday." Christine was starting to get alarmed. "He's not answering any calls?"

"No. We've all tried to call him."

"I'll go over to his apartment and see if he's there."

"Good. Get back to me."

Christine ended the call. She did not work at the restaurant anymore so she let them know that she had an emergency she had to take care of and she left. She hoped nothing had happened to Mac. She could not imagine why he would not answer the phone. She went into his apartment building and went up to the right floor. She had a key to the apartment now so she went in. "Mac!" she called. She noticed that there was a drop of blood in the floor not far from the doorway. It was dried, but she could see that's what it was. "Mac!"

Christine ran to Mac's bedroom but of course, he was not in there. She could see where the bed had been turned down and that his t-shirt and sweats were lying on the bed where he had not put them on. She looked in the bathroom and then in the kitchen but he was definitely not here. She called Danny back and told him. "He's not here, and it looks like something happened," she said.

"Like what?" Danny asked as he was getting up from his desk.

"I don't know. You guys should get here."

"Don't touch anything."

"I won't."

Christine stared at the blood drop in the floor as she ended the call. What could have happened to him? She waited for what seemed like forever for the others to get there and let them in. Danny had his forensics kit in his hand and Jo was right behind him as well as Lindsay. They stared at the room which was quite neat but they noticed the blood drop too. Danny opened the forensics kit and they got busy. He tested the drop. "Definitely blood," he said as it turned pink on the swab.

"Did he say anything about someone hanging around him or harassing him?" Jo asked.

"No," Christine answered. "He thought he was coming down with that stomach virus yesterday. He was feeling really bad."

They took pictures and then left the apartment. "Call the hospitals and make sure he's not at one of them," Jo said. "When Tyler had that virus he could barely hold up his head. He might not be able to call if he's in the hospital."

"Got it," Lindsay replied.

They all got to work and Danny tested the blood they had found and it was definitely Mac's blood. Lindsay and Adam called hospitals and did not find Mac at any of them. "What is this?" Danny asked. "Has he been kidnapped?"

"We need the surveillance footage from that apartment building," Jo said.

"I'm on that," Adam said.

They were all puzzled now, and just then, Don Flack came from the elevator. "What is this I hear?" he asked. "Mac is missing? What's going on?"

"We don't know yet," Jo replied. "He didn't come to work today and now we found some blood in his apartment."

"His blood," Danny added. "And it looked like he was getting ready for bed and something happened."

"He was kidnapped?" Don asked.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Jo said. "Adam is getting the security footage now. All we can do is hope there's something on there."

"There were no fingerprints on anything in that apartment besides Mac's," Danny said. "And Christine's prints were there too."

"This is just crazy," Jo said. She turned and went to her office.

Don looked at Danny. "He said he wasn't feeling good last night when he left," Don said.

Danny nodded. "That's what everyone says," he replied. "I wasn't here when he left so I didn't hear anything."

"How could anybody kidnap Mac from his apartment? How did they get in? There were no broken windows and no forced entry."

"All questions that we need answers to. Maybe they knocked and he let them in."

"A salesman?"

"That late at night? I don't understand why Mac would let someone in."

Don shook his head. "Something wrong with this picture, but then again, if he was coming down with that stomach virus I had, he might not have been thinking clearly," he said. "That thing knocks you down."

"Ick," Danny said. "I'm glad we've been able to avoid it so far. Maybe I had it when I was kid. I had some pretty bad ones."

Don was not sure what to do. He wanted to know what happened to Mac. "His truck was in his parking garage?" he asked.

"Yeah," Danny said. "Everything was like it should have been except he wasn't there."

"Let me know if you find anything."

Don left and went back to his own desk. He would put an APB out on Mac and maybe someone would see something. He had to hope they would. It was puzzling…there was no evidence except a drop of blood…unless the security footage had something on it. He hoped it would.


	3. Chapter 3

When Adam got done with the security footage, he went to find Jo who was sitting in her office. "I think you need to see this," he said.

Danny was standing in the doorway of the lab and he went with them too. "Okay," Adam said as he sat down at the computer. "I watched all this footage, during the time that everyone thought Mac left and went home. We see him park the Avalanche and go to the elevator here…" He showed them that footage. "We see him go to his apartment and go in, looking rather sluggish."

They watched the footage as Mac opened his door and rubbed his forehead. "And then this happens…" Adam said as he went on with the footage. He stopped it. "See that?"

Danny and Jo leaned down to look. "It skipped," Danny said. "What happened?"

"The security footage stopped at about ten-thirty and then started back up at about eleven," Adam said. "They must have done this between those times."

"Why didn't the security guard know that it stopped?" Jo asked.

Adam shrugged. Danny looked at Jo. "I guess that's a question we need to ask that security guard," Danny said.

"You and Don go and ask him, and don't take any slack jaw."

Danny had to smile at that term. He had learned a lot of Southern terms since Jo came to New York. He went to find Don so they could go and find out what kind of security guard worked at Mac's apartment building. Danny had thought that was an upscale building and would assume that people would be on their toes around there.

Don was at his desk when Danny came down there. "You got something?" Don asked.

"Yeah, we've got missing security footage," Danny said. "We're going to ask the security guard in Mac's building why there's a thirty minute gap."

"I want to hear that."

"Whatever happened to Mac happened during that gap."

They went out to the Avalanche and headed for the apartment building. "Either the security guard is in on this or someone got in there when he was doing something else," Danny said.

"He better not be in on it," Don replied.

Mac woke up feeling horrible. He did not feel like he had fever but he was so weak he could not even lift up his head. He supposed he could not drink anything at the moment. His stomach felt like it had rocks in it and when he turned over, it felt like the rocks just rolled over to the other side. He remembered being sick when he was a kid and his mother would sit beside his bed at night. He remembered having the chicken pox. That had not been a fun experience. He had lived in the days before vaccines and he had endured a lot of those childhood viruses. He supposed he did not have to worry about those now but he had vaccines when he went into the Marines. They vaccinated everyone.

As Mac lay there, he wondered what his team was doing. They must know he was missing by now. What would Christine think? He frowned, thinking of her being scared and upset because he was missing. He sure wished he could see her right now, but not in this situation. He had asked her to marry him standing on the steps of her apartment building. He had not had a ring and he still had not gotten one yet. He thought they would go and pick out those rings together. After all, she would be wearing it a long time. He looked up at the ceiling, wondering how long he would be here and wondering what that woman intended to demand for him. He knew they would never get any money.

Katherine was preparing her package to send to the Crime Lab in New York. She wanted to make sure they would get the message loud and clear. She put Mac's badge in the envelope as well as the picture of him that she had taken earlier and put the address to Jo Danville. She had met Jo before but she was sure Jo would not remember it and she would not know who was sending this. She sealed the envelope and went in to where Julie and Bryan were. "We have to go to the post office to send this," she said.

Bryan started to take it but Katherine jerked it back. "Put on the gloves, you fool!" Katherine yelled.

Bryan put the black gloves on that looked like motorcycle gloves. "Sorry," he said as he took the package.

"Slip ups like that are what can cost us our freedom! Now see if you can take this to the post office without drawing attention to yourself."

Bryan frowned at her. "Oooh, are you getting a little personality?" Katherine asked in a teasing way. "I would like to see that more often."

Bryan went out the door wondering how he had gotten into this situation. He had been dating Julie for a while and they had talked about how hard it was to make a living and he had talked about how he hated his job. Right now, he wished he liked his job. He had seen Mac Taylor plenty of times and he was surprised that that Detective had not recognized him…then again, he was always on the night shift and Taylor hardly ever came home at night and when he did, they did not meet. He usually only saw him on the security monitors. He supposed that was why the detective did not recognize him…he had probably never seen him. Otherwise, he would have most likely recognized him. No one knew he was there and would have done something to help them if they were attacked or needed help. He still did not like the situation that Katherine had them in. He had not expected her to kidnap a law officer.

Don and Danny arrived at Mac's apartment building and went to the security office. They showed the guard that was there their badges. "What can I do for you, Detectives?" the man asked.

"Officer Miller," Don said reading the man's name tag. "We have a problem."

"And what is that?"

"Who was on duty last night from ten-thirty to eleven?" Danny asked.

Miller thought a moment. "That would have been Bryan," he said.

"Bryan who?" Don asked as he was writing in his notepad.

"Bryan Gorey."

Don wrote that down and then looked at Miller. "Do you have any idea why the security cameras would suddenly go off at ten-thirty and then come back on at eleven?" he asked.

Miller scowled at that. "Not unless there was a power outage," he said. "Why?"

"Because the security footage that we got from last night had a break in it," Danny said. "Mac Taylor, our boss, was kidnapped during that thirty minutes."

Miller looked shocked. "Hey, I didn't know anything about that. Mac Taylor?"

"Yeah."

"I see Detective Taylor just about every day. Sometimes I meet him in the parking garage maybe when I was walking a woman to her car or something. I wasn't here last night."

"When does the shift change at night?" Don asked.

"At eleven," Miller said.

"So, when did Bryan come in?"

"I think he worked the three to eleven shift."

Danny looked at Don. "So, he kidnapped Mac and then turned the security cameras back on and left with him?" Danny asked.

"Sounds like it, doesn't it?" Don asked. "But how did they get him out of the building?"

Danny shook his head and looked at Miller. "You got any secret entrances in this building or entrances used by workers or anything?" Danny asked.

"There is a service door," Miller said. "It's in the laundry room. Sometimes they have to take things out and transport them to the cleaners."

"And who all has a key to that door?"

"Security has a key. We have to go down and let them out and then close the door back. It's a very secure place. I don't know how something like this could happen."

"Well, we're going to figure that out. You got an address for Bryan Gorey?"

"Sure." Miller looked in the computer and gave Danny the address. "You don't think he had anything to do with this? Bryan's a good security guard."

"Yeah, well, maybe he's wanting to switch sides."

"We need to see that door to the laundry room," Don said.

"Sure but I have to get Will in here to watch while I go down there."

"We'll wait."

Don and Danny went outside the security office to wait. "If that security guard did this, he might never come back," Don said.

"Why would he kidnap Mac?" Danny asked.

"Maybe Mac caught him doing something he was not supposed to do and was going to get him fired."

"So he kidnapped him?"

Don shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "I just hope Mac is out there alive somewhere."

Danny folded his arms. "Don't say that. I don't want to think of having to stand over Mac's body."

"Me neither."

Soon, Miller came from the security office and led them down to the laundry room and showed them the door that led outside. Don and Danny looked at the door. Danny dusted it for prints since there were not many people who used the door. Then they opened the door and looked out into a small parking garage. "So, what is usually parked in here?" Don asked.

"When they are taking out laundry, there are two vans that park in there so they can load them up and take the stuff to the cleaners and then bring them back. You know, if someone needs their sheets or anything like that cleaned."

"Right. So, where are the vans now?"

"I guess they're out."

"You guess? I thought you guys had to open this door every time."

"Yeah, but I only got here at seven this morning. I haven't opened the door since I got here."

"Do they usually leave out that early?" Danny asked.

"Sure. If they get everything there early, they can get it done quicker."

"So it could have been taken out of there last night," Don said.

Miller shrugged. "I wouldn't know," he said.

Don walked out into the parking area and looked around but there was nothing that indicated a struggle or anything. Danny walked up beside him. "We've got our work cut out for us," he said. "We've got to find that security guard."

"I'll get his picture out around the city," Don said.

They went back to the precinct and told Jo what was going on. "The security guard?" Jo asked in surprise. "That is just…"

"Don is getting his picture out," Danny said. "We're about to go and pay him a visit."

"Good. You bring that idiot in here. I want to see him myself."

As Bryan was going into the post office, he saw a TV screen that was showing a news alert. He saw his own face on it. He went on in to mail the package. He noticed that some people were looking at him while he was in line but he got the package mailed and then got out of there. He knew that his life was about to get very complicated. He got on the motorcycle he was riding and headed to his apartment. He had to get his uniform if he was going to work to act like nothing happened. However, when he pulled up to the apartment building, he saw that there was a police car out front as well and a black Avalanche that had a police light in it. Now, he could not go home. He was as suspect. He headed back to the hideout where Katherine and Julie were still there with Mac Taylor.

Bryan walked in and threw his motorcycle helmet down. "Have you seen the news?" he asked.

"What about it?" Katherine asked.

"You knew this would happen! You knew they would suspect me and you wouldn't have any problems!"

"What are you talking about?"

"My picture is all over the news! They know!"

Katherine narrowed her eyes at him. "Why don't you calm down?" she asked. "They won't find you here unless you left a trail of bread crumbs behind you!"

"No one followed me, but they're looking for me now! I can't even go back to my job!"

"Why would you want to go back to that low-end job? We're going to be rich!"

"There's no guarantee of that!"

"It's too late now. You're in this and you can lay low and stay out of view!"

Bryan did not like that but he had no choice now. He would not be able to get out of this. "So, how is he?" he asked. "Is he better?"

"He's fine for someone who has that stomach virus," Katherine said. "Why don't you go see about him if you're so concerned?"

Bryan glared at her and then went to the room where Mac was still lying on the cot. He walked over to him. Mac was barely awake but he looked at Bryan. "You look familiar," Mac said. "Where have I seen you?"

"Nowhere," Bryan replied. "How are you feeling?"

Mac rolled his eyes. "Don't ask."

"Maybe this will be over soon."

Mac stared at him. "It won't be over until the three of you are behind bars," he said. "You won't get away with this."

"You don't know that," Bryan said. "I guess we will just see."

Mac closed his eyes. He wished he was home in his bed or in a hospital. He felt like he should be in a hospital. He could not get up at all. He had sat up earlier and felt like he would faint then. He had definitely never had anything like this but he had also heard people say that it only lasted two days so he supposed that was a good thing. He just hoped his team could figure out what happened. He was not even sure what happened himself. He did not know how they got him out of the apartment building but he had woke up when they were in that van. There must be a clue somewhere…


	4. Chapter 4

"What!" Jo exclaimed.

"Yeah!" Danny said. "The guy dropped off a package at the post office, must have seen his face on the wanted ad on TV and probably disappeared. We have the package and we're on our way to the precinct now."

"Just hurry up and get that stuff here!" Jo hung up the phone. She could not believe it. A security guard stoops to such a level.

Don and Danny arrived at the lab soon. Jo took the evidence after it was entered and went into the lab. She opened the envelope and poured out the contents. Don, Danny, Lindsay and Adam were there. They all stared at it for a moment in shock. Jo picked up the badge and stared at the 8433 on it and then the picture. "I want these people found," she said.

"He's lying on a bed?" Don asked. "Is he sick?"

"Doesn't look like he's tied." Jo looked at the others. "Mac Taylor is not just going to lay there on a bed and not try to escape unless something is wrong."

"He may not be able to defend himself."

"They can't just disappear. Someone must have seen something and they just don't know it."

"We should get a picture of one of the vans from the apartment complex out so that people will know if they have seen one of them in some unusual place," Don said.

"Good, do that," Jo said. She looked at the note that came with the package. "They want two million dollars?" She could not believe it. "And they will let us know where to deliver it. If we want to see Mac Taylor alive and well again, we had better deliver or we will get him back in…pieces."Jo looked at the others. "Okay, now we know Mac's life is in danger. I want everyone working on this."

"We searched Bryan Gorey's apartment," Danny said. "There was nothing there that suggested that he had suddenly woke up and decided to kidnap the head of the crime lab and hold him for ransom."

"He didn't do this alone," Jo said. "He had to have help, must have been someone to get Mac out of the building while he took care of the security cameras."

"Yeah, cause he had to turn them back on before he left."

"This was well thought out, so we have to find out who he is associated with. Let's dig him up and tear his life apart."

Everyone scattered to get to work. Adam went to the computer lab. He knew that a security guard had to go through all kinds of screening to get in that position and they had to go through an agency. He would find out what agency Bryan Gorey went through and maybe they would know something about who he was associated with.

Don went back to the apartment complex and found that one of the vans was back so he got a picture of that to circulate around the city. He sent it back to the lab so that Lindsay could get that started. The picture was soon going all over the city. They would have to wait and see if anyone saw it…

The next morning, Mac woke up feeling like his eyes were dried out and his mouth and throat too. He wanted some water so he sat up, but he had to lay back down. He could not get up. He wished someone would come in here to see about him. He thought he might be able to drink something now but he could not get up yet without help. "Hey!" he yelled. "Somebody!"

Mac heard the door, and hoped that Bryan was coming but instead, Julie came in. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I need something to drink," Mac said. "Please."

"Well, we don't have a lot of stuff. I'll be right back."

Mac sighed as she left the room. He wished he at least had something to help his stomach. Soon, Julie came back with some Sprite and a small white pill. "Here," she said. "This is what the doctor gave us when we had that."

Mac looked at it. He knew what kind of medicine it was. He had seen it before too. He put the pill in his mouth and let it melt and then he took a sip of the drink. "Thank you," he said.

Julie just stared at him a moment. "Don't thank me," she said. "I'm only helping you because Bryan wants to treat you humanely. Katherine would still have you in that chair."

"And what about you?"

"I just do what she tells me. I'll bring you something else in a while."

Mac heard the door as she left again. He was starting to feel sleepy as his stomach started to settle down a bit. He supposed he should be thankful that Bryan was there. Maybe he could get him to help him if he could get well enough to get up off this bed.

Julie went back into the other room where Bryan was sitting and watching TV. "Can't you do anything else?" she asked.

"Like what?" Bryan asked. "My life is ruined."

Julie sat down beside him. "No, it's not. We'll be able to do what we want when this is over."

Bryan scoffed at that. "Are you kidding? We will always be hiding and looking over our shoulders. Do you know who that is in there?"

"He's a cop. So what?"

"He is more than just a cop! He is the head of the crime lab! They're not just going to forget this! If he gets out of here, he will be on the warpath!"

"I doubt Katherine is going to let him leave us alive."

"Oh, yeah, that makes me feel better. Not only will we be guilty of kidnapping, but murder!"

"We won't have to worry about it! We will get out of here!"

"If you think one minute that Katherine is going to have a way for you to go anywhere, you're crazy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't put it past her to kill us both."

Julie frowned. "She wouldn't."

Bryan shook his head. "Just don't turn your back to her," he said. "What does she mean when she says she is going to sent him back piece by piece?"

"She said that?"

"Yeah! Why don't you pay attention?"

"I don't want anything to do with that."

"Well, when this is over, I'm going somewhere on my own. I never want to see you or her again."

Julie looked hurt. "Why? I thought we were going away together!"

"Forget it!"

Julie got up and walked across the room. She put her red hair into a pony tail and then looked at Bryan through angry green eyes. "Well, then I don't care what she does to you," she said. "You're the one who better watch your back."

Bryan glared at her. "She doesn't love or care about anyone but herself."

"And you care about that cop in there."

"Yeah, I do. He hasn't done anything to either of us and here we are holding him captive and he's sick! He needs a doctor!"

"He'll be fine! All he needs is some medicine to settle his stomach. I'll give him something else later when he's able to get up."

"He'll dehydrate if he doesn't get any help."

"So what? I don't care. I just want this over."

Bryan did not want to talk to them anymore. He just wanted out of here. He thought if he got out of here again, he would not come back. He thought he only came back to help Mac Taylor. He did not want them to kill him or be cruel to him. He had heard a lot about that cop. Maybe he would help him if he helped him escape. He would not mind helping him capture Katherine and Julie. They deserved to go to jail…and so did he for getting himself into this.

Jo was sitting in her office with a coffee cup. They had not heard anything about anything. No one had seen that van and no one knew anything about where Mac was or that missing security guard. She could not understand how they could just fall off the face of the earth and no one saw it happen. She thought maybe someone had seen it and did not realize it…or that was what she thought before. That was why they had sent out the picture of the van and of the security guard, but there were no hits on that.

Danny walked up to the door of Jo's office. "No more word from those kidnappers," he said.

"I know," Jo replied. "It seems impossible that they could do something like this and no one saw it."

"With that security guard helping them, he probably knew just when to do it so that no one would see it."

"How could he do something like that?"

"I don't know. I guess he wasn't thinking right or something. What causes anybody to do this?"

Jo looked at Danny. "The head of the crime lab!" she said. "They aimed high, didn't they?"

"I guess they thought he would bring the most money."

"And he's alone a lot."

"That too." Danny shook his head. "We've got every cop in the city on the lookout while they're on duty, we've got those pictures circulating. All we can do is hope that someone sees something."

"Danny, I don't know if I can take it if we get a piece of Mac in the mail," Jo said.

"Let's try not to think about that."

Just then, they saw Christine coming from the elevator looking very worried. Jo went to her. "Hi," Jo said.

"Have you heard anything?" Christine asked.

"Not yet, but everyone is looking for him."

Christine felt like her heart would fall out of her chest. "How did this happen?"

Jo blew out a breath. "One of the security guards at Mac's apartment building was involved. He knew how to get around everything."

Christine stared at her with her mouth open a moment. "A security guard?"

"Yes. He's disappeared and no one has seen him." Jo looked toward her office. "Come with me."

Christine followed her to her office and Jo got the envelope they had received. "We got this in the mail yesterday," Jo said. "It contained Mac's badge and a ransom note and…" Jo pulled Mac's badge from the envelope."

Christine stared at it a moment. "So they really have him," she said. "Ransom?"

"Yes. Two million dollars."

"Two million? Is anyone going to…" She knew the answer to that before she asked. "What's going to happen to him if they realize they're not going to get what they want?"

Jo did not want to tell Christine what else the note said…about getting him back a piece at a time. "We don't know," she said. "We're hoping they will give this up or that we can find them somehow."

That did not sound very reassuring to Christine but she knew there was nothing they could do until they got some sort of clue. She had been with Mac long enough to know how things worked. They could not do anything until they found some sort of clue and there was nothing. She had seen the crime scene herself. There was nothing there that looked disturbed except for the fact that Mac was gone.

"Well, just let me know if you hear anything," Christine said. "Please."

"I will," Jo replied. She watched Christine turn and leave. She felt so bad for her. She could not imagine how she must feel. She wanted to find Mac too.

That afternoon, Mac woke up feeling a little better. He did not feel like he was so heavy that he could not move anymore. He still felt dry however, but his stomach had not resisted the Sprite he drank or the medicine he had taken. It was such a relief to know that he was getting better at least. He tried raising up on his elbow for a moment to see how he would feel. His head still felt like he would faint but it was not quite as bad as it had been the day before.

Just then, Katherine walked in. "Are you feeling better?" she asked.

Mac frowned, knowing that she did not care how he felt. "Maybe," he said. "I'm thirsty."

"Good." Katherine walked over to him. "Take off your shoes."

Mac stared at her a moment with a puzzled look. "Why?"

Katherine put her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Take them off now!"

Mac sat up slowly and his head did not like the idea. "I can't sit up," he said and lay back down. "I feel faint."

Katherine was angry. She went to the door. "Get in here!" she demanded.

Bryan came into the room. "Get his shoes for me!" Katherine said.

Bryan walked over to Mac and took his shoes off. He took them to Katherine. She snatched them and left the room. Bryan looked at Mac. "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"I'm thirsty," Mac said. "But I don't think I can drink water."

"I'll get something."

Mac grimaced as he felt sick again. "I think I need to go to the bathroom."

"I'll get you in there and then I'll go get you something."

Bryan helped Mac up. Mac tried to walk but his vision looked cloudy as he got up. He had to have help. "I've never been like this in my life," Mac said.

"It's a bad one," Bryan replied. He frowned as he was starting to think that his life had not been as bad as he had thought it was.

"Are you having second thoughts?" Mac asked.

"I can't help you right now."

"You could if you would try."

"I have to wait until the right time."

"You should know when that is. You certainly knew when to kidnap me."

Bryan frowned. "I'm sorry. I can't go back and undo it."

"If you help me, I promise, I will help you."

"Yeah, right."

Bryan got Mac into the bathroom. "I'll get you something while you're in there," he said. He went back into the other room where Katherine was packing Mac's shoes into a box that she would send to the police precinct.

"So, what errand of mercy are you performing now?" she asked as Bryan came into the room.

"He needs something to drink," Bryan said. "You can't use him for barter if he dies, you know."

"I guess you're right but just don't be talking to him too much."

"Who's talking to him?"

Bryan got a sprite from the fridge and some more of the medicine they had given him that morning and went back into the room where Mac was being held. Mac was standing in the bathroom door, leaning heavy on the doorway. "You alright?" Bryan asked.

"NO," Mac said. "If you don't help me, I'm going to faint."

Bryan helped him back to the bed. "I brought you some more of this medicine," he said. "And here's a sprite. It should help."

"Thanks." Mac took the small pill and then drank some of the sprite. He thought the virus was shifting from his stomach now. He did not know if that was better or worse but he knew that when that happened, it would be nearly over. At least that was something that was looking up a little.

Jo and the others did not feel like anything was looking up with the situation. At around 5 pm, a package was delivered to the precinct. After it was cleared, they took it into the lab and opened it. They were all shocked at the contents. Jo took the shoes from the box. "His shoes?" she was puzzled.

Lindsay took the note out of the box. "This is just the first piece," she read. "The longer it takes you to answer our message and deliver the money, the more pieces you will get, and once he's naked, we will have no choice but to start with body parts."

"That is just sick," Don said. "Is that all it says?"

"No. There's a time and a place here that they want the money delivered."

Don looked at it. "That's tonight," he said and looked at his watch. "In only four hours. How are we supposed to get two million dollars in that length of time?"

"I already talked to the commissioner about this," Jo said. "There's no way the city can give this amount of money for Mac. It would start criminals to thinking that they would give them money and it would be a cycle."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"We'll have to try and fool them. We have to do something. Maybe they will give Mac to us before they realize…" Jo did not even finish that sentence. She knew they would not let Mac go until they knew they had that money. "There's no way we can get two million dollars."

"Yes, there is," someone said.

They all looked around to see Sid standing in the doorway. "I'll pay it," he said.

Jo frowned. "But Sid, we may lose it."

"I would rather lose that than to lose Mac. Why didn't you come to me already?"

"I thought maybe we could find them."

Sid frowned. "No, you thought I wouldn't want to do it. Money is not worth more than my friends."

Jo knew if she had it she would pay it too. "I know," she said.

"What are we going to do?" Danny asked.

"We'll deliver it, and they had better have Mac there. Someone will have to follow them. There are eight of us and we have to be more clever than they are."

"That could be hard," Don said. "They know what their plans are and we don't, but they know that we're not going to do anything to endanger Mac."

"Well, they're going to get a surprise when we show up on their doorstep."


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all those reviews. I hope you will keep them coming. :) Thanks for reading. miss37**

At about 8 pm, Sid had a suitcase of money in the lab. "Sid, are you sure about this?" Jo asked for about the fifth time.

"I'm sure," Sid replied. "I already told you…it's only money."

Jo could not help but worry about losing it. She knew those criminals might get away with the money and they would never get it back. "Okay. I'll try not to ask again. It's almost time." She blew out a breath.

Don walked in and took the suitcase. "I guess this is it," he said.

"Yes, it is. I just want everyone to be on their toes."

"We will be."

Christine was sitting in the computer lab with Adam and Lindsay. They would be monitoring the tracking device they put into the case with the money. "I just hope they don't discover it," Lindsay said.

"They would have to have acute, microscopic vision to see it," Adam replied. "I mean, it's no bigger than a grain of rice and I put it on a bill in the middle of all that. There's no way they can see it…unless…"

Lindsay and Christine looked at him. "Unless what?" Lindsay asked.

"Well, unless they have a scanner."

"Adam!"

"Well, I hope they don't, I mean, surely they don't."

Lindsay looked at Christine. "Don't worry," she said. "They will find him."

"But there's a possibility that they won't bring Mac to the drop off," Christine said. "I know how these things work."

Don drove down to the pier that the note had specified and found the right slip. It was dark down there to say the least. There was nothing there but an old boat that looked like it would sink if it was not tied to the pier and then there was another old boat that looked like it had been gutted. Don wondered why they wanted the money delivered here, but as he got closer to the old boats, he realized there was a black boat out at the other side of the pier. "Okay, they've got a black boat out here waiting," Don said into his link.

Just then, Don saw someone step out onto the pier. They were also dressed in black and had on what looked like a mask. "Do you have the money?" the woman asked.

"Yeah," Don answered. "Do you have Mac Taylor?"

"Show me the money."

"Show me Mac!"

The woman stared at him a moment. "Show me the money!" she demanded.

Don did not want to but he held up the case and opened it facing the woman so she could see the money. "There it is," Don said. "All two-million dollars of it! Now, where is Mac Taylor?"

"We get the money first and get away, then we give you Detective Taylor!"

"No, no, no! You were supposed to bring Mac here! Now, where is he?"

"You may never see him again if you don't give me that money!"

"You don't get this money until I get some proof that he's still alive!"

"I'll give you proof!"

Suddenly, the woman turned and jumped into the boat and gunned it as she left the pier. "Hey!" Don yelled. "She's making a run for it!"

A helicopter had been standing by and was on its way to spot the boat in the water. Jo came out onto the pier where Don was. "I should have let her have the money," Don said. "I thought…"

"Don't worry about it now," Jo said. "Let's just hope they can find her out there. She can't just disappear again."

Katherine was doing a disappearing act already. She had locked the boat's steering wheel into position and she was wearing a diving suit already. She got the oxygen tank on and jumped into the water and the boat kept going. They would be sorry for crossing her.

When the boat was discovered, they realized that the woman was not in it. "There's no one in the boat," the helicopter pilot said. "The boat is empty, heading straight out toward land."

Don looked at Jo. "She got away," he said.

"This is unbelievable," Jo exclaimed. "She had to go in the water somewhere."

"And she could come out anywhere!"

They could not help but wonder what that woman would do to Mac after she got back wherever she was going. "She didn't seem to care much about debating about the money," Don said.

"She didn't have Mac with her," Jo replied. "I don't see why she didn't bring him with her!"

"Only one thing…she had no intention of giving him to us!"

"She must have guessed that we would have a tracking device in the money."

"What was this? A test? Did she just want to see if we would really bring the money?"

Jo sighed. "I don't know, but Mac is still lost," she said.

Katherine arrived at the place she was going to and got into the car she had waiting. She got on her way back to her hideout. At least now they knew they could get the money out of them. She figured they would have some sort of tracking device in the money so they would have to make sure they did not take that with them. She would also send them a disturbing picture of Mac Taylor, and maybe they would change their minds before they wanted to try and alter anymore deals.

Don felt like it was his fault now. He should have just let her have the money and then they could track it. "I should have just let her have the case," he said.

"Don't worry about that now," Jo replied. "I don't think she ever intended to take it. She was testing us to see if we are going to give the money."

"Why?"

"Good question. This is obviously an evil woman. She must have some sort of criminal record."

"You never know."

They searched around the place and did not find anything in the boathouse where the criminal had been waiting for them. "She is definitely careful," Jo said. "Too careful for an amateur. Who is this woman?"

Don did not want to even talk about it. He wanted to get back to the precinct so he could do some digging and find someone who might fit a profile like this. There were a lot of unsolved cases in the city and he wanted to search through them. There could be something in there that would give them a clue…however, he did not think this person had ever kidnapped anyone before, and they knew that the security guard from Mac's apartment building was involved. He had not been seen since Mac disappeared. Don did not think that guy was the head of this operation, he believed he had met the leader tonight.

Katherine arrived back at her hideout. She was angry but she was satisfied with the test. They had the money there alright. She walked into the building and slammed the door. "Well, now we know they are willing to pay," she said.

"You didn't get the money?" Bryan asked.

"No. They had a trap set. We are going to set up a meeting place and it will be too quick for them to set up a plan."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, for one thing, our hostage in there is going to get a lot less comfortable."

Bryan frowned. "Why?"

"Because, I want them to get disturbed. If they're disturbed, they will care more for getting him out than about capturing us."

"Are you kidding? That will make them want to get us even more."

"We'll see, won't we?"

Bryan wondered what she intended to do to Mac. He watched as she went into her other room to change out of her wet clothes. He went into the room where Mac was lying on the cot almost asleep. "I don't know what she's about to do to you," Bryan said. "But I don't think it will be pleasant. She's mad because they were trying to trap her."

Mac sighed. He did not know how much he could take. He was better but he was definitely not well. "Why don't you help me?" he asked.

"I…"

Just then, the door was shoved open and Katherine walked in. "Since you've become so close to him, you can get him to get into that chair peacefully," she said. "If he doesn't, I will make it very unpleasant."

Bryan looked at her. "He's sick," he said. "If you get too rough with him, it will get very unpleasant for all of us in this room!"

Katherine walked over to him and glared at him. "Get him into that chair."

Bryan got over to Mac and got him up. Mac was feeling better than before. He glared at Katherine. "If you think you will get away with this…"

"Oh shut up!" Katherine yelled. "Hold him still." She unbuttoned Mac's shirt and pulled it off him and then took his t-shirt off too.

Bryan put Mac into the chair and then they strapped him in. "Don't tie my head down," Mac said as he was starting to feel sick from the stress.

"Tie it down!" Katherine yelled coldly.

Bryan pushed Mac's head down and strapped it to the chair. Mac wondered what she intended to do to him. His stomach did not like this situation at all and he had to agree. Now, he was strapped down to a chair with no shirt on. He swallowed hard as Katherine came over to him. She pulled out a knife. Mac was trying to keep his stomach under control but it was not easy. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to give them something to think about," Katherine replied.

Bryan was alarmed. "What are you going to do?" he asked.

"You leave this room and you will find out soon enough."

Bryan looked at Mac and then left the room. He knew Katherine would not hesitate to kill him and she had that gun with her all the time. It was not long until he heard Mac cry out with pain. He supposed he would have to clean up the mess. He would not let him lie in there in his own vomit. He would figure out how to get Mac out of there, but either Katherine or Julie was always there. They did not trust him, and he supposed it was with good cause. He had been stupid to get into this and he would have already walked away if it were not for Detective Taylor. He would not leave him to those two maniacs.

Soon, Katherine came in there with a bloody shirt and t-shirt and she was cutting rips into them. "You can go and tend to your friend now," she said. "And don't pretend that you're not in this. I had to have 'his' blood on it, because you know they will test it."

Bryan frowned and went on into the room. He found Mac with a gash cut across his abdomen just under his ribs and he had thrown up as well. He walked over to the chair. Mac glared at him. "You could have helped me!" he said. "You're nothing but a coward!"

"You're right," Bryan replied. "I am." He looked at Mac. "I work in your building as a security guard and I sit there hoping that I will not have to get into a dangerous situation."

Mac stared at him. "I knew I had seen you before," he said. "You won't ever have another job when I get done with you."

"You might not ever get out of here alive without me, so don't threaten me."

Bryan unstrapped Mac from the chair and got him up. "If you think doing all this is going to make up for what you've done, you're mistaken," Mac said.

"I don't care anymore," Bryan replied. "Shut up, or I will just drop you over there in your vomit and whatever else you lost while she was cutting you."

Mac knew he needed some help so he figured he better be nicer. He was glad to get into the bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror. He even looked sick to himself. He washed his face and then looked at the bathtub. He thought he needed in there. Bryan brought him a towel and wash cloth. Mac did not say thank you because he was angry. He got over to the tub. He felt like he might get his strength back if he could get something to eat. He knew why that guy was trying to help him now. Maybe he thought he would help him get out of trouble because he was a security guard…well, he had another thought coming. He would escort him to jail himself if he was able.

Mac got a bath and then got out of the tub. He stared at the cut across his abdomen. It was still bleeding a little. He needed something to clean it and cover it but he had no hope that he would get anything. He felt just a little better now that he had gotten a bath. At least he did not feel like he was wearing his sickness now. He had no clean clothes to put on, but Bryan had brought a robe in there for him to wear. He supposed he could just wear that. He put it on and left his clothes in the bathroom. He went back to the cot and lay down. He was tired now.

Don was sitting at his desk when Jo came in. "Have you found anything yet?" she asked.

Don shook his head as he did not even look up at Jo. "This is not your fault, "she said.

Don looked at her. "I should have let her have the money and then we could have tracked her and we might be finding Mac by now…but NO, stupid me had to demand to see him!"

"Don, you could not know that would happen! Stop blaming yourself. You're trained to do just what you did…any of us would have done the same thing."

"That doesn't make me feel better."

"She probably suspected that we had the tracking device in it. She was just testing us. Now that she knows we will give them the money, I just have to wonder what her next move is."

"Hopefully it won't be to hurt Mac."

"If she does, it will not be your fault, it will be hers. You need to concentrate on finding what you can to help us and not worry about things we can't help."

Don watched Jo go to the elevator. He knew she was right but it did not help him to feel any better. He got back to work searching through files about women who were "suspected" in crimes since they did not have any fingerprints or anything to lead them to anyone.

Jo went back to the lab and went to see what Adam had found so far. "There's nothing on the security cameras that helps," Adam said. "There's nothing that shows where she came out of the water so far. I'm still looking but there are places down there that are not covered by cameras."

"Look into some of the places with parking areas and see if you get anything there," Jo said. "She had to have something waiting for her so she could get away fast. We don't even have a description of the woman, nothing."

Adam hoped he would find something soon. He wanted to find Mac…

The next morning, Jo came into the office and was handed a package. She stared at it a moment and then took it up to the lab. "We have another package," she said.

Everyone was in the lab and Jo opened the large envelope. She gasped as she pulled the bloody shirt and t-shirt out. She pulled the note from the envelope which was also stained with blood. "That was a nice trick," she read. "Don't mess with us or you will start getting him back in pieces. We will be in touch."

"You think that is really Mac's blood?" Danny asked.

"Test it to be sure."

Danny put on gloves and took the shirt and t-shirt. Lindsay got ready to help him. Jo took the note and the envelope and dusted them for prints. Of course, there were none. "They can't keep evading us like this," she said.

"What about the hand writing?" Sheldon asked. "We could test the handwriting, see if it matches anything in the system that was used in a crime."

"Good idea," Jo said. "Get to it."

Sheldon took the note and went to the computer lab where Adam was. "We need to see if this hand writing matches anything in the system," he said.

"That could take a while," Adam replied.

"Just do it as fast as you can. This is the closest link we've had so far."

Mac was lying on the bed feeling sore all over. He knew his team must be upset. He did not know what was going on but he knew they would do everything they could to find him. His wound was still oozing and it hurt. He thought maybe they would give him a first aid kit but they had not brought anything. He figured they were getting more agitated with the stress and they would start getting even colder toward him. However, he was feeling his first hunger pains since he had become sick. He supposed that was a good sign but he did not think he was going to be given anything to eat.


	6. Chapter 6

Adam and Sheldon had run the handwriting through the system and had found a match in a case that was unsolved. A note had been left at a murder scene and the police had found that the victim had been kidnapped and their loved one had been trying to reason with the kidnappers alone and it had not turned out well. "That's it," Sheldon said. "We need to get this case file and find out who the suspects were in this case. Maybe there is a picture and since we did not have any fingerprints, maybe there is something in that case file that will help us find out who this person is. Then we can find out if this person has disappeared from her life."

"Good idea," Adam said.

Sheldon left the computer lab and went to tell Jo what he had found. "I'll get on that now," Jo said as she was picking up the phone.

Danny walked into the office next. "The blood on that shirt and t-shirt belongs to Mac," he said.

"That means he's injured," Sheldon replied.

"It's quite a bit of blood but it doesn't seem like enough to kill him."

"Well, we know he was alive when this happened."

"Right."

Don had gone down to the pier that was closest to the one where he had met that woman for the drop off. He wanted to see if he could find anything that looked like someone had crawled up onto the beach from the ocean. He walked along the beach paying attention to the sand. He knew if anyone came up onto this beach from the water, they would have made some tracks and there were not many tracks here because when the tide came in, it went up under the pier. He knew that had already happened but he was just hoping that he would find something. He kept walking until he came to the beach beyond the edge of the pier and there they were…tracks. He followed the tracks which seemed to sink deep into the sand and were irregular in spots. He thought that woman had probably had scuba gear ready and had just swam up here and she took it off as she went up this beach. He followed the tracks that went on around to go under the pier from the other side.

Don walked up under the pier. It was dark under there but cool. He knew a lot of people could be up under there and doing no telling what. He made sure his weapon was ready. How did he know that this was not their hideout? He walked further up under the pier and finally found where the woman had stashed the scuba gear. He got his phone and called Danny to let him know.

"I'll be there soon," Danny said. He told Jo what Flack had found.

"Good," Jo replied. "Maybe we're starting to get somewhere. We're waiting for that case file. When we get that, maybe we will get a picture or a name."

Danny headed down to the pier where Flack had found the scuba gear. He gathered it up into evidence bags so they could examine it when they got back to the lab. "Hopefully there will be something in there that will tell us something," he said.

"I can't see someone pulling that off their head without pulling out at least one hair," Don replied.

"I hope."

They looked under the pier further but there was nothing else. However, they did find the footprints that went up to the parking lot. "She had to have a car sitting here waiting," Don said.

"Probably right," Danny agreed. "And maybe someone saw it here."

"But who? And how do we find them?"

"Just have to post it so people will see it."

"And hope for the best."

Danny took the new evidence back to the lab to be analyzed. Lindsay got busy on it right away. She examined the head piece for hair that could have been pulled out when the suspect took the head gear off. After a thorough inspection, she found a blond hair in the gear. She got that hair into DNA analysis. She hoped they would get something from that. Next she dusted the gear for prints. She found one on the oxygen tank and started a scan on it.

Don got the information circulating about the pier where the woman had the car waiting. He hoped someone had seen something that would help them. Adam was searching through security footage that might have gotten a view of that parking lot. He had searched video footage until his eyes felt like they would pop out but he had to keep trying.

Jo was just receiving the case file that contained the handwriting that they were looking for. She took it into the conference room where Sheldon was waiting to help her with the search. She opened the box and took out the evidence and they began their search. Jo opened the folder about the case. "The victim was a kidnap victim," she said.

"Yes," Sheldon replied. "Her husband had tried to negotiate with the kidnappers and they dropped the victim's body off on the porch of their home."

Jo shook her head. "This is just awful." She looked through the file at the notes that had been left for the husband. "It's definitely the same handwriting," she said as she looked at the notes they had received about Mac. "Whoever kidnapped this other victim has now kidnapped Mac and she killed that victim."

"That means she won't think twice about killing again," Sheldon said.

"I just don't see how she got this security guard to help her. We need to look into his associations."

"He's not married, but he must have a girlfriend. We need to check his inner circles, hangouts and everything to see who he's been seen with."

"Right. Get Don on that."

"I'll get it."

Jo looked in the file but there had been no fingerprints in that case either, nor had there been any DNA, no traces of anything to link to any suspects. Jo was beginning to wonder how that woman chose her victims. Were they somehow associated with that security guard? She looked at the address of the victim, but it had been nowhere near Mac's apartment building. She thought maybe Mac knew that victim or that they had been associated with some sort of business…but what? That could be anything. She looked to see who the Detective who investigated that case was…Jo stared at that a moment. It was Mac Taylor. She wondered if that woman had known he investigated that. Did he suspect her? She looked at the list of suspects, and there were two women and three men on the list of suspects that Mac had visited but he had not been able to prove that either of them were involved. Maybe they were about to find some link to one of these people.

Lindsay was running the DNA from the hair she had found and checking the fingerprints she had found on the oxygen tank. The fingerprints came back to a woman named Marci Randolph. She took the evidence to Jo. "These were the fingerprints I found on the oxygen tank," Lindsay said.

"You and Danny go and pay her a visit."

"The DNA is not done yet, but it came from the hair I found in the scuba gear."

Lindsay took off here lab coat and called Danny to find out where he was. "We're going to check out this woman who's print I found on the oxygen tank," Lindsay said. "Her names I Marci Randolph."

"I'll meet you at the Avalanche," Danny replied.

"Okay. I'll be down there in a minute."

Lindsay went down to the Avalanche and Danny was already there. "So, where do we visit this person?" Danny asked.

"We go to this scuba diving school," Lindsay replied. "She's an instructor there."

"You think she moonlights as a kidnapper?"

"Who knows?"

They went over to the scuba diving school and went inside. There was a woman inside who had curly brown hair that looked like every hair was in place at the moment. "Hi," she said, with a smile. "May I help you?"

"We're looking for Marci Randolph," Lindsay said.

"That would be me."

Lindsay showed the woman her badge. "What's this about?" Marci asked.

Danny showed her a picture of Mac. "Have you seen this man?" he asked.

Marci looked at the picture. "No, not that I remember."

"Do you rent scuba gear?"

"Yes, of course."

"Have you rented any to a blond woman lately?"

Marci considered that. "Yesterday morning, a woman came in to rent some scuba gear," she said. "She had red hair and green eyes. I guess she was about five-six."

"The hair I found in the scuba gear was blond," Lindsay said. "Do you have a name?"

Marci looked in her records. "Her name was Julie Klane. She rented it and was supposed to bring it back this morning."

"Well, it's evidence now."

"You mean they used my scuba gear to commit a crime?"

"They're suspected in the kidnapping of Detective Mac Taylor," Danny said. "They're holding him for ransom."

Marci looked surprised. "I heard about that," she said. "I don't know anything about that."

"Thanks."

Danny and Lindsay walked outside. "She sent someone else to rent it for her," Danny said.

"So, there may be two women involved in this with the security guard," Lindsay replied.

"She uses him and the other woman to do her bidding."

"We have to get back and see if the name Julie Klane is on that suspect list in the other case Jo was looking at."

They went back to the lab and told Jo what they had found out. "She sent someone else to rent the gear for her," Lindsay said.

Jo looked at the suspect list on the case. "There is a 'Julie' on here," she said. "But Klane is not her last name."

"Maybe she used a fake."

"I guess we need to pay a visit to Julie Lolar. She works at a grocery store not far from Mac's apartment building." Jo looked at them. "Go and see what she has to say about this…better yet, bring her in for questioning."

Lindsay went to check on her DNA analysis and Danny headed down to find Flack. Don was at his desk still looking for clues. "Don, let's go and pick up a suspect," Danny said.

"We have one now?" Don asked.

"Yes. Julie Lolar, she works at a grocery store out there close to Mac's apartment building."

"Maybe that is where she saw him…and maybe that is where she met Bryan Gorey."

"May be right."

They headed for the grocery store. "It's odd that they would risk going to rent scuba gear like that," Don said. "I mean, it looks like they would disguise themselves or something."

"Maybe they did," Danny replied. "We have no idea who these people are, but she used an assumed name. We found the real one on the suspect list from that other unsolved case."

"I just hope Mac is okay and we can find him."

"Me too."

Mac woke up to Katherine standing over him. "What does it take to get the attention of your team?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Mac asked.

Katherine glared at him. She pulled the gun from her holster. "Get up."

Mac sat up. His whole abdomen felt incredibly sore from having that virus, not to mention that cut. He still felt weak too. "Get up!" Katherine demanded.

Mac stood up and then she shoved him toward the other room. "Where are we going?" Mac asked.

"You'll see in a minute!"

They went into the other room where Bryan was sitting on the sofa in there. He stood up. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"He's going to talk to his team and convince them that we mean business," Katherine said.

Katherine took Mac over to a phone that looked like it came from the early 1900's. It had an ear piece and a rotary dial. He thought it looked like it might have been used on the Andy Griffith Show. "Call your team and tell them that we mean business," Katherine said. "Better yet, I'll write what I want you to tell them."

Mac waited while she wrote a note. She laid the note in front of him. "Now, dial," she said.

Mac looked at the phone and dialed Jo's number. He had no choice but to do what she said…

Jo was sitting at her desk when her phone rang. "Danville," she answered.

"Jo."

Jo stood up so fast, she caused a cascade of papers and everything to go sliding off her desk. "Mac!"

"Yes, Jo, it's me."

"Mac, where are you?"

"I don't know."

Katherine pushed the gun barrel into Mac's back. "I have to read this to you, Jo," Mac said. He looked at the note. "You will be called with instructions later today. If you do not follow them exactly, your friend will be dead."

"What are the instructions?" Jo asked. "Mac are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Jo," Mac said. "Is Christine okay?"

"Yes. We're keeping her informed. Have you been injured?"

"Yes…"

Katherine took the receiver from Mac and hung up the phone. "That's enough," she said.

"Mac! Mac!" Jo said. The call had ended however. She ran to the computer lab. "Adam, I want you to trace the last call that came through my cell phone!"

Adam got to work but he could not find anything. "It's untraceable," he said. He looked at Jo. "What happened?"

"Mac called. He didn't know where he was."

"Is he okay?"

"He said he had been injured but then the call was cut off. He didn't have enough time to say anything else."

Jo left the computer lab and went into the forensics lab. "Mac called," she said.

"What did he say?" Lindsay asked.

"He read a note that said we would be given instructions later today and if we don't follow them exactly, he will be dead. He said he had been injured."

"Injured how?"

"I don't know. He didn't have time to tell me."

"So we just have to wait for instructions."

"Yes."

Don and Danny arrived at the grocery store where Julie Lolar worked. They walked into the store and walked over to the manager's booth. "Hey," Don said and showed the man his badge. "We're looking for Julie Lolar."

"She works in the meat department," the man said.

"Thanks."

Don and Danny walked toward the back of the store to where the meat department was. They did not know, however, that Julie Lolar was sneaking out the back door of the store. She had heard them come in. She got out into the alley and ran for her car which was parked in a place that she could get to it quickly. She had to get away from here and let Katherine know what was going on. They were closing in this time.

"Hey!" Don called as he and Danny walked up to the meat counter.

A man wearing a white apron came from the back. "Can I help you?" he asked.

Don and Danny showed their badges. "We're looking for Julie Lolar," Danny said.

"I think she just went out for a smoke," the man said.

"Where?" Don asked.

The man pointed toward the back door. Don and Danny ran to the door and got out into the alley, but they were too late. "We're on the right track," Don said.

"Yeah, but I think we just got derailed," Danny replied. His phone rang. "Messer."

"Danny, Mac just called Jo," Lindsay said. "They made him read a message."

"What?"

"They are going to call later today with instructions, and Mac is injured. We don't know how or how bad."

"Well, Julie Lolar got away. She must have seen us coming in and got out the back door before we could even get a glimpse of her."

"I guess that's another apartment we have to tear apart."

"Yeah. We'll see what we can find out here."

Lindsay ended the call. Her DNA was finally ready. She looked at it to see what the result was and then she went to Jo's office. "Jo, that DNA sample came out to a woman named Katherine Dennis."

Jo looked at the list of suspects on the previous case. "That's one of the names on here," she said. "They're definitely involved in this. They must have chosen Mac because he lives alone."

"So, all we can do is wait?"

"It looks that way. No one knows where they are, but when they call with those instructions, we have to be ready for whatever they tell us to do."

"Right."


	7. Chapter 7

Danny walked over to the guy who worked in the meat department of the grocery store. "What do you know about Julie Lolar?" he asked. He looked at the guy's name tag. "James."

"I don't know that much about her," James said. "We just work together."

"Yeah, but you must talk sometimes. I mean, when people work together, they talk. Has she mentioned a boyfriend?"

"Yeah, she talks about some guy named Bryan, and he's come by here a few times. He wears a uniform…a cop or something."

"He was a security guard. So they were dating?"

"I guess. She talked about him a lot and said she was going on a date some nights. That's all I know. I don't know anything about the guy."

Danny nodded. "Any other friends come to the store who know her? She ever mention a woman named Katherine?"

James thought a moment. "Not that I remember but a woman did come into the store one day and they talked a little at the meat counter. I thought she was just a customer."

"Did that woman have blond hair?"

James nodded. "I think so."

"Thanks."

Danny headed up front where Don was talking to the manager of the store but he was finishing up as well. "The meat guy says a blond woman came in to see Julie Lolar before and they talked over there at the meat counter," Danny said.

"Yeah, the manager there says he saw that woman come in and that the security guard came in to see her and often came to pick her up after work," Don replied.

"So, she worked here and was involved with that security guard. That must be how they chose Mac for their scheme. He must have walked in here a lot. This store isn't far from his apartment building."

"Right, so what's next? We have all three suspects and no one knows where they are."

"There has to be something. We can put those names across the wire and get pictures of them to put out there too. Maybe someone knows something about them."

Adam had exhausted everything with the security footage and did not find anything. Jo and the others had not found out much about the security guard either. The people who worked with him did not know that much about him, although he had mentioned his girlfriend, Julie. Katherine Dennis was still a mystery. They had found that she worked at a nail salon in the mall. Jo and Lindsay were on their way there to see what they could find out.

They walked into the mall. "Oh, I wish I could just come to the mall some time when I am not looking for a criminal," Jo said.

"Me too," Lindsay agreed. "Seems like all we do is hunt a criminal, and then when we have a little time off, Lucy is either sick or having growing pains."

"Any time you need some time alone and if I am off, I would be glad to babysit for you."

"Thanks. It won't be long until we will have a baby crying too."

"It just gets better and better."

They found the nail salon which was called "Marie's Nail Boutique". They walked in and of course, were bombarded by the smell of the business. "I just hate coming in these places," Jo said. "I just cut mine and forget it."

"That's about all you can do when you have children," Lindsay said.

They walked up to the counter where there was a woman with black hair that hung down to her hips and of course, she had manicured nails that were painted and decorated. "Hi," she said. "What can I do for you?"

Jo and Lindsay showed her their badges. "We're here about a woman named Katherine Dennis," Jo said. "Does she work here?"

"Yes," the woman said. "She's not here today though."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Yesterday."

"And when is her next shift?"

"She was supposed to be here today but since she's not, I assume she will be in at ten in the morning. Is there something wrong?"

Jo gave the woman her card. "If you see that woman, call me," she said. "She is very dangerous. Don't let her know that you're calling."

The woman took the card and frowned. "Dangerous?"

"Yes. She's a suspect in a murder and now another kidnapping."

"I didn't know."

"We didn't either until today. Like I said, she is very dangerous."

"Thanks for the warning."

Jo and Lindsay left the salon. "She must know we're getting closer," Lindsay said.

"Probably does," Jo replied. "And things are getting more dangerous for Mac."

Don and Danny were at Julie Lolar's apartment. Don picked up a picture that was sitting on the dresser. "This must be the security guard," he said.

Danny looked at the picture of Julie and Bryan together. "Yeah, probably," he agreed. He began looking through everything to see if they could find anything that would help them put another piece in the puzzle. He found a yellow envelope in the bottom drawer of the dresser. He took that out and took the contents out on the dresser.

Don and Danny frowned as they looked at the pictures in the envelope. "They were watching him," Don said. "How did he not suspect?"

"Distracted?" Danny suggested. "He's dating Christine now. Maybe he's not as alert as he used to be."

"Come on." Don picked up one of the pictures. "They were definitely scoping him out. This looks like it might have come from the security footage."

"They must have watched to see if he had a routine or if he came home at any certain time."

"Looks like it, and they made their move when they knew he was there."

"Now, we 'know' that security guard is involved in this because they had to get this from him."

"Right."

Jo and Lindsay were getting a warrant for Katherine Dennis' apartment. They would have to search hers too. They thought she might be the mastermind behind this whole thing.

Julie arrived back at their hideout. She walked in where Katherine was planning her strategy for that evening. "Well, that was it for me," Julie said. "They found me."

Katherine looked at her. "How did they find you?" she asked.

"I don't know, but they showed up at the grocery store."

"Oh, does that mean your life is over too?" Bryan asked with a smirk.

"He's become clever while you were gone," Katherine said.

Julie folded her arms. "I thought you said they would never find us."

"Well, obviously they are too clever this time. They must be able to put two and two together this time."

"They're doing more than that." Julie got the remote and turned the TV on.

There was a report on the TV that had all three of their pictures on it and their names as the suspects in the kidnapping of Mac Taylor. Katherine frowned at it. "Oh, so 'her' life is over too," Bryan said with a sarcastic smile at Katherine.

Katherine glared at him. "You're pushing your luck," she said. "We're going to get the money this time. I have a plan."

"You always have a plan," Bryan said. "So far, your plans are not working very well."

"Yes they are. Just because they know who we are doesn't mean they will find us. We just have to stay out of sight."

"That should be easy until an officer notices that someone is in this building."

"This building is always occupied so stop worrying about that."

"Well, when they find that laundry van in there, it will be over."

Bryan got up and walked into the room where Mac was. Katherine looked at Julie. "We're going to have to get rid of him," she said. "He's too soft."

"I suppose I have to agree," Julie replied. "What are we going to do with the detective?"

"While I go to pick up the money, you will take him down to the darkest, most dangerous part of Brooklyn and leave him."

"Why? Won't we need him?"

"Not after we get the money. And leave him in the robe. Give him something to make him sleepy and take him out there. He won't last long."

"Then what?"

"Then we will meet at our rendezvous point. You know where. We will divide the money and go our separate ways."

"Right. And what do we do with Bryan's body?"

"Leave it here for the rats."

Bryan looked at Mac who was lying on the cot. "Can't I get something to eat?" Mac asked.

"Sure," Bryan replied. "What do you want?"

Mac was not sure what he should eat. "Can I have a dry toast? Some crackers?"

"I'll be right back."

Mac thought Bryan looked pretty sad about the situation. He figured it was coming down to the end of the situation and he wondered where he would wind up. He thought of Christine. He wanted to see her again. He did not want to die in this situation. He had been thinking about these three here now that his brain was a little clearer. He remembered that Julie and Katherine were suspects in a case he had worked before. He had not been able to solve that murder but the victim had been kidnapped. He knew now that he had been on the right track with that case, but had not been able to prove it. He supposed they would solve both now…and he hoped his was not another murder.

Bryan came back in with a pack of saltine crackers. "These should help," he said.

Mac took the crackers as he sat up slowly. "They killed that other kidnap victim, didn't they?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"There was a case I worked on that a woman was kidnapped and she was murdered and left on the front porch of her home for her husband to find. I never solved that murder but those two in there were suspects."

Bryan frowned. "And you think they are going to murder you," he said.

"Yes, I think so," Mac replied. "Why would they let me live?"

"I think they would be more likely to murder me than you."

Mac ate one of the crackers which tasted awfully good after having nothing for so long. He ate it slowly but he was even more hungry then so he ate more of the crackers and drank some water. He knew now that he was past the vomiting part of the sickness, but he was not past the other part. He hated that but he also knew the body got rid of germs that way. He wished there was another way. He ate half the pack of crackers and then lay down. His stomach felt much better now and he felt more relaxed.

Bryan was in the other room watching the news report now. He knew things were about to get ugly. If he could get Mac out of here, maybe they could stop Katherine before she got away with that money…or before she killed them both.

That evening, the plan was swinging into action. Katherine wrote out a note and then brought Mac into the room to call Jo again. Mac looked at the note. He halfway wanted to refuse but he knew that would do no good. He dialed the number and waited…

Jo heard her phone ring as she was standing in the lab. She ran to her office and grabbed. "Danville," she answered.

"Jo, listen," Mac said. "She wants you to deliver the money in thirty minutes." Mac told her the address. "If you try anything, or if you don't leave the money, they will kill me. They will leave me somewhere in the city after they have escaped with the money." Mac scowled at that. Where would they leave him? He could only think of Christine. "Tell Christine I love her!" he said before Katherine ended the call.

Jo heard the call end. She wanted to cry and she knew Christine was on her way up there now. She looked at her watch. "Thirty minutes!" she called out. "We have thirty minutes!"

Jo ran into the lab and grabbed the case of money. "Thirty minutes!" she said.

The others knew the urgency. Danny ran out after her as he blew a kiss to Lindsay. As he and Jo were almost to the elevator, Christine was coming out. "Lindsay will explain," Jo said. "We have to hurry." She stopped as she got to the elevator. "Christine, Mac said to tell you that he loves you." She turned and went into the elevator.

Christine did not know where they were going but she went into the lab where Lindsay was. "Where are they going?" she asked.

"They're going to a dropoff," Lindsay said. "They have thirty minutes to get it there."

Christine just hoped and prayed that they would get Mac back this time…


	8. Chapter 8

Things were swinging into action at the hideout. Katherine had told Bryan to go into the other room and hold Mac while Julie gave him a sedative. "NO!" Mac yelled. He could not struggle much however and they gave it to him anyway.

Katherine drew her weapon and shot Bryan as he was turning. He fell against the wall and slid down to sitting. "You didn't think I would risk you alerting anyone, did you?" she asked.

Julie and Katherine went into the other room. Mac was not asleep yet. He got off the bed and got over to Bryan. "I'm sorry," Bryan said.

Mac looked at the wound which was bleeding badly. He stared at Bryan knowing that he could do nothing to help him. "It's alright," Bryan said. "I hope you…" He did not finish that sentence.

Mac frowned and then he was starting to get sleepy. He got back over to the bed and lay down. He knew he was going to fall asleep no matter what. Before he fell asleep completely, Katherine and Julie were back. Katherine looked at Bryan's body. "Well, at least that is one less problem," she said.

Julie looked away. "Let's just get this done," she said.

They got Mac into a wheelchair and pushed him out to a car and got him into the back seat. He wanted to try and get away but he could not. "Just take him out there and dump him," Katherine said, "and then go to the rendezvous point."

"I'll see you there," Julie replied.

Don was heading for the drop off point along with Jo and Danny. "You two will have to wait while I do this," Jo said. "If we all go, she will get nervous."

"We want to get her this time," Don said.

"She already said if we try to follow them, Mac is dead. They will leave him somewhere. I don't want to do anything to jeopardize his life any worse. We might never find him."

Don had to admit that sounded right but he could not believe they were going to let that woman get away with two million dollars of Sid's money. They arrived at the old warehouse where they were supposed to drop the money. "You sure you want to go in there alone?" Don asked.

"Yes," Jo replied. "I'm going to just take it in there and leave it and then we will watch what happens."

Jo got out of the car and walked over to the warehouse and tried the door. It was unlocked so she went in. The warehouse looked like it was full of junk but there was a trail through it. She found a note beside an old trunk. "Just leave the money in the trunk" the note said. Jo lifted the lid and put the case of money into the trunk. She just hoped the woman did not know how to disable a tracking device. She looked around her and then walked out of the warehouse.

Don, Jo and Danny waited to see if the tracking device started moving. "Come on," Jo said anxiously.

Katherine was already inside the warehouse and had seen Jo deliver the money. She got down to the trunk and took the case out. She had a scanner to pick up tracking devices. She scanned the money and found both of them. She dropped the tracking devices into the trunk and then took the money to the car that she had waiting in the warehouse. It was on the other side of the warehouse from where Jo and the others were.

Katherine got into the car and drove out the back of the warehouse and left in the opposite direction so that they would not see her. "Why isn't she taking it?" Jo asked.

"Looks like she would do it quick," Danny remarked.

"She seemed to be in a hurry. Let's get in there!"

They got out of the car and went into the warehouse. Of course, the tracker was picking up the signal from the tracking devices that were still inside the old trunk. Jo lifted the lid and saw that the case was gone. "Oh no," she said. They found the tracking devices in the trunk. "She got away with it!"

They ran back out to the car and alerted all units that the woman had gotten away with the case of money and that they had not seen any cars. They would have a hard time finding her now…

Julie was dropping Mac off in the worst part of Brooklyn at about the time that Katherine was taking the case of money. She pulled Mac out of the back seat and let him fall onto the concrete. They were in an alley so it was unlikely that anyone would see her doing it. "Don't leave me here," Mac said as he tried to get up. He was still sedated however.

"Good bye!" Julie said and got into the car and sped away.

Mac looked around him. He was still groggy but he knew he had to get up from here. He was out here in an alley wearing nothing but a robe. He looked up at the old building that he was beside. It looked like an old apartment building. He made his way down to the corner of the alley and looked around to make sure no one was out there. He got around the corner and found the door to the old apartment building. He got inside and looked around. It looked like it had just been abandoned but there was a lot of trash in the place so he figured other people were coming here and staying. He went up the stairs to the floor above. He tried the knob on the first door. It was not locked so he pushed the door open.

"Hey! Don't you know how to knock?" someone asked. "Get out!"

"Sorry," Mac said. He closed the door and moved on down the hall. He went around the corner and down to the end of the next hall. He knocked on that door but no one said anything so he went in. There did not appear to be anyone in there so he looked around a moment and fount that it was empty. It did not look like it was always empty. He locked the door and went on into the apartment. There was a sofa there and a bed as well. Mac wondered how many people had been on that bed and what had gone on on it, but right now, he had to lie down. He lay down on the bed and felt relieved. Then he felt like he had to go to the bathroom.

Mac wondered if there was still water in this building so he went into the bathroom and turned the faucet on. There was water alright. He flipped the light switch and there was even power in the building, although one of the light bulbs shot and broke because it had not been used in so long, but the other one kept burning. He leaned on the sink a moment and then he inspected the toilet to make sure there were no spiders around it. There were none, so it was okay.

When Mac had that done, he went back to the bed. He hated being sick but he was sure there were no telephones in this building, although he could not believe there was water and power. He was soon asleep…

Jo and the others were trying to locate the car that Katherine had obviously escaped in. Adam was examining surveillance footage to see if anything had caught that car coming from there. "We need something!" Jo said.

"I don't see anything," Adam replied. "I think they knew where cameras could see and where they couldn't."

"She can't get away with this!"

Don felt helpless. There was no way they could know which car she had left in or which way she went. They went down to the next block and found that there was a factory close to the warehouse they had been in. "Let's see if there's anyone in there and if they saw anything," Jo said.

They found that the factory was not in operation at the time so there was no one there. They had lost the money and possibly lost Mac too. "How did she find the tracking devices?" Jo asked. "She had to have a scanner."

"That's the only way," Danny said. "She was prepared for everything. I guess her friend the security guard helped her prepare for all that."

Mac woke up during the night when he heard someone kick the door to the apartment open. He sat up wondering who was coming in there. He saw a flashlight shining around there, and he hoped it was a policeman. Mac stood beside the wall and waited as he heard footsteps getting closer. Then he felt like he had to go to the bathroom again, but he stood there.

Soon, the light shined into the bedroom, and a woman came in there. She gasped when the light passed over Mac. "What are you doing in here?" she asked. "This is my place!"

"I didn't know," Mac said. "I was looking for a place to stay until morning. Somebody threw me out here and I didn't know where else to go."

"What do you mean, threw you out?"

Mac did not know if he wanted to tell her that he was a police officer or not. "Somebody threw me out here. They were holding me captive for several days for ransom."

The woman stared at him a moment. "And they threw you out here?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Well, you can stay on the sofa."

Mac nodded. "I'm sorry." He left the bedroom and went to the sofa. He did not feel well.

"What did they do, take your clothes?" the woman asked.

"Yes."

"I think I can find you something. You don't want to be going around here dressed like that."

Mac waited while the woman rummaged through a pile of clothes that she had in the closet. She came out with a man's shirt and jeans. "These should fit you," she said.

"Thanks," Mac said. He went into the other room and got into the clothes.

The woman came in there with a pair of shoes. "These are size ten," she said.

"Perfect."

"My name is Janet."

"Mac."

"Mac?" Janet considered that a moment. "And you were kidnapped? Seems like I've heard that name."

"Maybe you have," Mac said.

"They were holding you for ransom? You must be important if they were asking for a ransom."

Mac frowned. "I wouldn't say I'm so important," he said. "I need to get in touch with someone. I'm sure there is no phone here so where is the closest one?"

Janet sniffed. "Nowhere that we can get to tonight," she said. "Just get some rest."

Mac looked toward the door. "Is it locked?" he asked.

"Yes, but the chain doesn't work anymore."

Mac lay down on the sofa. It was stuffy in the apartment and dusty. He was glad he at least did not have to sleep on the street tonight…

It was a tumultuous night for Mac's team as they tried to find Katherine and her accomplices. They could not find anything that would lead to them but they had APB's out on all three. Jo had to go home and get some rest but Don was still at the precinct and Sheldon was still at the lab along with Adam. They had not received any word on the suspects.

When morning came, Mac had to rush to the bathroom again. He hated being there with a stranger but he had no choice right now. At least he knew he could get some help when he got out of this place. As he exited the bathroom, he heard Janet talking to someone. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Have you got a man hid in there?" someone asked.

"So what if I have? It is none of your business, now get out!"

"Oh, you don't know what to do with a man."

Mac frowned at that comment and listened to see what they would say. "Angela, he is not yours," Janet said.

"He will be," Angela replied.

Mac was alarmed. He did not know if he had the strength to fight anyone off, but he would sure try. No one was going to take him captive again if he could help it. He waited to see what would happen next and he heard footsteps. "Leave him alone, Angela," Janet said. "He's sick anyway."

"What do you mean, sick?" Angela asked.

"I don't know. He was held captive for a few days, he said."

"That doesn't mean he's sick."

Mac heard them coming toward the room and he waited. Soon, Janet came in along with another woman who had wild brown hair and wild looking blue eyes. She stopped as she saw Mac and looked him up and down with lustful eyes. "Janet, you have never had anything in here that looked that good," she said as she walked a little closer to Mac.

Mac backed up a little. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"She carries Viagra around with her," Janet said with disgust. "She captures men and feeds it to them until she gets tired of them and then finds another one."

Mac could not believe what he heard. "You're crazy," he said.

"I'm not crazy," Angela said as she was still looking him over.

"You stay away from me."

"That's what they all say but they enjoy it after a while."

Janet pushed Angela into the wall. "Come on!" she yelled.

Mac went with her and they got out of that apartment and down the stairs. Mac felt his stomach cramping with all that running but he kept going. They got outside and went around into another alley. "Come on," Janet said as she was pulling Mac along.

They soon got far enough away and stopped. Mac knew he was not completely well now because his stomach was cramping. "This running is not doing me any good," he said. "Get me to a phone."

"I will," Janet said. "I can find a bathroom if you need one."

"That would be good."

Janet led him around to a restaurant. "They have a bathroom in there," she said.

Mac was not sure he wanted to go in there but he went anyway. He did not have a choice. When he was done in the bathroom, he went up to the front of the restaurant and asked to use the phone. "We don't have any public phones here," the man at the counter said.

"Please," Mac said. "My name is Mac Taylor. I…"

"Hey, you're that cop that was missing." The man got the phone. "Sorry man."

Mac got the phone and dialed Christine's number…although he thought he should have called Don first…

Christine was sitting in the kitchen of the restaurant when her phone rang. "Hello," she answered.

"Christine," Mac said.

Christine gasped. "Mac?"

"Yes. I'm okay. I'm over in Brooklyn at a restaurant called Lenny's Café."

"Okay. I'll come and get you!"

"No. I just wanted you to know that I'm okay. I'll get Don to come and get me."

"Why?"

"I don't want you to come over here."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Just let me know when I can see you."

"I will. I love you."

"I love you too."

Mac ended that call and then called Don. Don was at his desk propping on his hand. He felt like he was doing his job in his sleep, but he could not sleep knowing that Mac was out there somewhere and they could not find him. Needless to say, Katherine had not kept her word to call and let them know where to find him, and they had not had any luck and finding her and her accomplices.

Don's phone rang. He yawned and answered, "Flack."

"Don," Mac said.

Don's eyes widened. "Mac?"

"Yes. Don I'm over in Brooklyn at Lenny's Café."

"I'll be there as soon as I can! Do you need an ambulance?"

"You can take me to the hospital."

"Okay."

Don ended the call and called Jo while he was running out the door. He told her what was going on. "Does Christine know?" Jo asked.

"I don't know!" Don said. "I'm on my way to get him now."

"Just let us know where you take him."

"I will."

Jo sent a text to all the team to let them know that Mac had been found and that Don was taking him to the hospital when he picked him up. She called Christine to let her know but found that she already knew. Jo thought she should have known that Mac would call her.

Mac was sitting at a table in the restaurant. He had told Janet that he would wait here for Don to come and get him and thanked her for her help. He was so sleepy he thought he could lie over on the table and sleep. He had slept last night but he supposed when a person was sick, they just felt sleepier than normal. Soon, Don arrived and hurried into the café. He saw Mac sitting at the table and he was so relieved he thought maybe he would be able to sleep tonight. Mac stood up and stumbled just a bit.

"Hey, are you alright?" Don asked.

"Just get me out of here," Mac said.

Don got Mac out to the car and headed for the hospital. Mac was relieved too and he thought he would fall asleep. "What happened, Mac?" Don asked.

"I don't know," Mac replied. "Julie took me out and dumped me. They probably thought I would be killed out there. Katherine was going to do something…I don't know. She killed Bryan, that security guard from my apartment building. I suppose you guys figured all that out."

"Yeah, but it didn't help us any. Do you have any idea where you were?"

Mac shook his head. "I was asleep part of the time that we were going out there and when she was bringing me out. I don't know."

Don could see Mac was tired. "Well, you can rest now." He did not want to tell Mac that Katherine got away with Sid's money.

Mac looked at Don. "They got away, didn't they?" he asked.

Don nodded. "Yeah. We have not been able to get any leads except there was an abandoned car outside the city and there were some fingerprints in it from Julie Lolar."

"Bryan Gorey didn't really want to be in that but he had already got in it and couldn't get out."

"It's over now until we can find them."

Don got Mac back over to Manhattan and to a hospital. He was slightly dehydrated and of course, he was hungry and the cut was slightly infected, but they would give him something for that. The cut was not deep enough to have cut any arteries, but it had been enough to bleed. "I tell you," Don said. "When you get out of here, I will take you and buy you anything you want to eat."

Mac felt so sleepy, he thought he just wanted to go home and get in his bed. "I don't know what I want," he said. "I think I still have to be careful."

It was not long until Christine came in. She hugged Mac. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright," she said.

"I'm glad to see you," Mac said. "Don't kiss me. I've been sick."

Christine smiled. "What did the doctor say?"

"I'll be alright. I just had that stomach virus."

"Oh, you poor thing. I'll nurse you back to health."

Mac smiled. "That ought to cure me real fast."

"You rest now."

Mac nodded. He thought he could rest now. The doctor decided to keep him over night to watch that oozing cut across his mid-section which had to have stitches after it was cleaned, but he would most likely go home the next day.

"I'll stay with him," Christine said to Don. "You should go home and get some rest."

"I need it," Don replied. "I know you'll take care of him."

"I will."

Mac was soon in a room but Jo was there to see him. "Mac, I'm so glad to see you here," she said. "Well, not here, but…"

"I know what you mean," Mac said. He was glad he was in the hospital and would have someone to take care of him all night. He was just tired.

Jo hugged him. "I will get out of here and let you rest but I just had to see you," she said.

Mac nodded. "I'm glad to be here even if it is in the hospital."

"Good night."

Jo left and Christine sat down on the side of the bed. "You have great friends," she said. "They worked around the clock trying to find you."

"I knew they were," Mac said.

"Now, maybe we can start planning our wedding."

"Oh, when do you want it to be?"

"Soon. I don't want a long engagement." She looked at the ring on her finger that they had picked out together. "I want that other ring."

Mac smiled. "Is that all you want?" he asked.

Christine leaned over him. "Oh no. I want much more than that."

"Now don't start talking to me like that. I've been sick, you know."

Christine laughed. "You get some rest and we will talk about this tomorrow."

Mac thought about that. He did not think he wanted to have a long engagement either. He just wanted to get married and live happily ever after…


End file.
